Newcastle Eagles player-coach Fab Flournoy will lead his team out to face basement club Leicester Riders tonight admitting that he already has one eye on the play-offs.

For he revealed that he has spent most of the week preparing his players to cope with the challenges that lie ahead in the post-season rather than talking through what Billy Mims' men might throw at them.

"Really and truly I don't know what kind of game to expect tonight because I haven't concentrated on this game," he said before the team set off for Loughborough University.

"It's a bit of a gamble, but at the same time it's one that I think needs to be taken in terms of preparing the team for the rest of the season as opposed to one game.

"Up until this point I have been working game-by-game. But this is a switch in terms of recognising the things we need to work on for the rest of the season."

The Riders, who haven't beaten the Eagles for almost two years, gave an indication that their form is improving when they ran Chester close at the weekend despite being without forward Mario Porter.

But Flournoy believes that his own side - beaten just once in their last five games - is in good enough shape to clinch their third win of the season against the Riders.

"It's no disrespect to the Riders or to Billy Mims, but if we play defence we will win the game," he said.

"There is no game plan - there is nothing more to it than that. Right now I am not looking at any team that is below us - I'm looking at every team that is ahead of us."

The playcaller added: "We have reached a plateau as far as talent is concerned. I know what we have and I know what I am going to get from each of my players.

"The guys have been playing extremely well in the last couple of games, and it is now about us crossing over the threshold and learning how to handle different situations.

"Every team that we play - one through 11 - has a totally different philosophy. The first, second and third teams in our league - Sheffield, Brighton and Chester - all win differently.

"Once the post-season starts your record goes out the window. If you haven't learned the lessons during the regular season you will be out on your ear after the first game. It's knockout, situation, it's not a series."

The Eagles are well placed to finish in fourth place in the league, which was Flournoy's objective at the start of the season.

"But I would rather finish eighth and win the championship - as Billy Mims did a couple of seasons ago - than finish fourth and go home after the first game," he said.

"I don't want to sound cocky or arrogant because I'm not. But our guys needs to accept that we are trying to do better than just achieve fourth place."

Ian Whyte has missed training this week with a back injury but is expected to suit up tonight while Porter is likely to return for the Riders after missing Saturday's game through illness.